The Supreme Court has directed the Central and State Governments to make the system of online monitoring of road safety and e-challan uniform across the country. The court also expressed concern over road accidents.
The court was told that 90 per cent of the total accidents happen in 15 states. These include UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, West Bengal, Punjab and Meghalaya. 60 per cent of the accidents happen on national and state highways. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Justice DY Chandrachud gave the above directions on the recommendations of the Supreme Court’s high-powered committee on road safety and accident prevention, headed by former judge Justice AM Sapre.
The Court noted that Section 136-A of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 provides that the government shall ensure electronic monitoring of road safety. It shall be applied as prescribed in the directions given in sub-section (2) on national highways, state highways, roads or roads in other urban areas.
